Crop engaging apparatus and methods

Abstract

A crop cutting and conditioning apparatus has two vertical axis rotary drum cutters 13, each having an upper rotor with a crop conveying surface 19 and a lower rotor carrying knives 21. Gears drive the upper and lower rotors at different peripheral velocities. The lower rotor has an annular rim 18 having an upper surface shaped to continue the outline of the conveying surface 19. The knives 21 protrude outwardly from beneath the rim 18 and rotate with the rim. The upper rotor has conditioning elements comprising brushes 35 (or sheets of plastics material), for conveying crop and conditioning crop by relative movement between the brushes and the crop. The outer tips of the brushes 35 (or the edges of the sheet or rib-like elements) lie along one or more helical or part helical paths around the rotor axis. Preferably the lower end of each helix leads during the rotation so as to exert a lifting action on crop engaged by the rotors.

I claim: 
     
       1. Crop engaging apparatus comprising: a mobile frame for movement over the ground,   at least one crop engaging rotor for conditioning and conveying cut crop, and   drive means for rotating said rotor about a vertical axis, or near vertical axis, for conditioning cut crop and conveying the crop towards the rear of the machine,   the rotor comprising a brush-like structure having a multiplicity of stiff, resilient, outwardly directed, elongate crop engaging elements, crop engaging being arranged in a plurality of part helical arrays distributed around the rotor axis, each said array occupying only part of the circumference of said rotor, and each said array leading upwardly and rearwardly relative to the intended direction of rotation of said rotor so as to exert a lifting action on crop engaged by the rotor,   each said array comprising a lower part close to the ground, and an upper part which is spaced from the ground, crop engaging protruding outwardly from said rotor axis both at said lower part of said array and at said upper part of said array, the distal ends of crop engaging forming an outer envelope of said rotor over a substantial proportion of the height of said rotor so that said distal ends of crop engaging exert a conditioning action on the crop.   
     
     
       2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the elements are arranged in spaced-apart tufts of elements. 
     
     
       3. Crop engaging apparatus comprising: a mobile frame for movement over the ground,   at least one crop engaging rotor for conditioning and conveying cut crop, and   drive means for rotating said rotor about a vertical axis, or near vertical axis, for conditioning cut crop and conveying the crop towards the rear of the machine,   said rotor comprising a plurality of crop engaging elements extending outwardly from said rotor axis and distributed around said rotor axis, each said element occupying only part of the circumference of said rotor, and said plurality of elements being greater than two, each element comprising a generally flat sheet-like member, said member having an outwardly facing edge for engaging crop, each said element terminating in another crop engaging edge leading upwardly and rearwardly relative to the intended direction of rotation of said rotor so as to exert a lifting action on crop engaged by the rotor, said outer edges being inclined upwardly and rearwardly over at least a major proportion of the height of the crop engaging region of the rotor,   each said outer crop engaging edge comprising a lower part close to the ground, and an upper part which is spaced from the ground, said outer edge of each element protruding outwardly from said rotor axis both at said lower part of said edge and at said upper part of said edge, said outer edges of said elements forming an outer envelope of said rotor over a substantial proportion of the height of said rotor so that said outer edges exert a conditioning action on the crop.   
     
     
       4. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which there is provided in association with the crop engaging rotor, a rotary cutting means mounted for rotation about the same axis as the crop engaging rotor, and arranged to be driven by the drive means for cutting crop by rotary motion during movement of the frame over the ground, the associated crop engaging rotor being arranged to lift and convey rearwardly crop cut by the cutting means. 
     
     
       5. Apparatus according to claim 4 in which said drive means is arranged to drive said rotary cutting means at a different angular velocity from its associated crop engaging rotor. 
     
     
       6. Apparatus according to claim 4 in which the elements of the rotor extend outwardly beyond of the outer perimeter of the cutting path of the cutting means. 
     
     
       7. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which there are provided two crop engaging rotors having the features set out in claim 3, each rotor being mounted for rotation about a vertical or near vertical axis with the axes spaced apart transversely relative to an intended direction of forward travel of the apparatus, and the drive means being arranged to drive the rotors in counter rotation in such a manner that crop is passed between the rotors upwardly and rearwardly from the front to the rear of the apparatus. 
     
     
       8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which the outer peripheries of the two crop engaging rotors overlap, in which the drive means is arranged to rotate the two crop engaging rotors in counter rotation at the same rate of rotation, and in which the crop engaging elements are so arranged that in operation the outer edges of elements of one rotor intermesh with spaces between the outer edges of elements on the other rotor during rotation. 
     
     
       9. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which there are provided two or more crop engaging rotors having the features set out in claim 3, each rotor being mounted for rotation about a vertical or near vertical axis with the axes spaced apart transversely relative to an intended direction of forward travel of the apparatus, and the drive means being arranged to drive each rotor in rotation in the same sense in such a manner that crop is swept across the combined front of the rotors into a windrow on one or other side of the apparatus. 
     
     
       10. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which the general outline of the outer edge of each element is straight. 
     
     
       11. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which the general outline of the outer edge of each elements is curved. 
     
     
       12. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which each succeeding element around the periphery of the rotor is overlapped by the immediately preceding element, each element having an upper portion which extends over a lower portion of an immediately succeeding element. 
     
     
       13. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which the envelope of the outer edges of the elements of the rotor is substantially cylindrical. 
     
     
       14. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which the envelope of the outer edges of the elements of the rotor is at least part conical. 
     
     
       15. Crop engaging apparatus comprising: a mobile frame for movement over the ground,   at least one crop engaging rotor for conditioning and conveying cut crop, and   drive means for rotating said rotor about a vertical axis, or near vertical axis, for conditioning cut crop and conveying the crop towards the rear of the machine,   said rotor comprising a plurality of crop engaging elements extending outwardly from said rotor axis and distributed around said rotor axis, each said element occupying only part of the circumference of said rotor, and said plurality of elements being greater than two, each element comprising a generally flat sheet-like member, said member having an outwardly facing edge for engaging crop, each said member being formed of thick stiff resilient sheet-like material, each succeeding element around the periphery of the rotor being overlapped by the immediately preceding element, each element having an upper portion which extends over a lower portion of an immediately succeeding element, each said element terminating in an outer crop engaging edge leading upwardly and rearwardly relative to the intended direction of rotation of said rotor so as to exert a lifting action on crop engaged by the rotor, said outer edges being inclined upwardly and rearwardly over at least a major proportion of the height of the crop engaging region of the rotor,   each said outer crop engaging edge comprising a lower part close to the ground, and an upper part which is spaced from the ground, said outer edge of each element protruding outwardly from said rotor axis both at said lower part of said edge and at said upper part of said edge, said outer edges of said elements forming an outer envelope of said rotor over a substantial proportion of the height of said rotor so that said outer edges exert a conditioning action on the crop.   
     
     
       16. Crop engaging apparatus comrising: a mobile frame for movement over the ground,   at least one crop engaging rotor for conditioning and conveying cut crop, and   drive means for rotating said rotor about a vertical axis, or near vertical axis, for conditioning cut crop and conveying the crop towards the rear of the machine,   said rotor comprising a plurality of crop engaging elements extending outwardly from said rotor axis and distributed around said rotor axis, each said element occupying only part of the circumference of said rotor, and said plurality of elements being greater than two, each element comprising a generally flat sheet or rib-like member, said member having an outwardly facing edge for engaging crop, each said element terminating in an outer crop engaging edge leading upwardly and rearwardly relative to the intended direction of rotation of said rotor so as to exert a lifting action on crop engaged by the rotor, said outer edges being inclined upwardly and rearwardly over at least a major proportion of the height of the crop engaging region of the rotor,   each said outer crop engaging edge comprising a lower part close to the ground, and an upper part which is spaced from the ground, said outer edge of each element protruding outwardly from said rotor axis both at said lower part of said edge and at said upper part of said edge, said outer edges of said elements forming an outer envelope of said rotor over a substantial proportion of the height of said rotor so that said outer edges exert a conditioning action of the crop.   
     
     
       17. Apparatus according to claim 16 in which the crop engaging elements are formed by a plurality of wide, generally flat rib-like members spaced from and distributed around the axis of the rotor, each rib-like member having a side edge facing outwardly from the axis for engaging crop, and each rib-like member having a general longitudinal axis which is inclined at a skew angle to the axis of the rotor. 
     
     
       18. Apparatus according to claim 17 in which each rib-like member has a generally crescent-shaped form, the outer edge of the rib being of curved shape. 
     
     
       19. Crop engaging apparatus comprising: a mobile frame for movement over the ground,   at least one crop engaging rotor for conditioning and conveying cut crop, and   drive means for rotating said rotor about a vertical axis, or near vertical axis, for conditioning cut crop and conveying the crop towards the rear of the machine,   said rotor comprising a plurality of crop engaging elements extending outwardly from said rotor axis and distributed around said rotor axis, each said element occupying only part of the circumference of said rotor, and said plurality of elements being greater than two, each element comprising a generally flat sheet-like member, said member having an outwardly facing edge for engaging crop, each said element terminating in an outer crop engaging edge leading upwardly and rearwardly relative to the intended direction of rotation of said rotor so as to exert a lifting action on crop engaged by the rotor, said outer edges being inclined upwardly and rearwardly over at least a major proportion of the height of the crop engaging region of the rotor,   each said outer crop engaging edge comprising a lower part close to the ground, and an upper part which is spaced from the ground, said outer edge of each element protruding outwardly from said rotor axis both at said lower part of said edge and at said upper part of said edge, said outer edges of said elements forming an outer envelope of said rotor over a substantial proportion of the height of said rotor so that said outer edges exert a conditioning action on the crop, and   a rotary cutting means mounted for rotation about the same axis as said crop engaging rotor, said cutting means being driven by said drive means for cutting crop by rotary motion during movement of said frame over the ground, and said associated crop engaging rotor being arranged to lift and convey rearwardly crop cut by the cutting means, said drive means being arranged to drive said cutting means at a different angular velocity from said crop engaging rotor.   
     
     
       20. A method of conditioning and conveying crop comprising the steps of: rotating about a vertical or near vertical axis a crop engaging rotor mounted on a mobile frame for movement over the ground, and   conditioning crop and conveying crop towards the rear of the frame by rotation of said rotor,   said conditioning and conveying step comprising acting on the crop by a plurality of crop engaging elements extending outwardly from said rotor axis and distributed around said rotor axis, each said element occupying only part of the circumference of said rotor, and said plurality of elements being greater than two, each element comprising a generally flat sheet-like member, said member having an outwardly facing edge for engaging crop, each said element terminating in an outer crop engaging edge leading upwardly and rearwardly relative to the intended direction of rotation of said rotor so as to exert a lifting action on crop engaged by the rotor,   said conditioning step comprising conditioning the crop by said outer edge of each said element, which is arranged to protrude outwardly from the rotor axis both at a lower part of said element close to the ground and at upper part of said element which is spaced from the ground, whereby said conditioning is effected by said outer edges of said elements of the rotor over a substantial proportion of the height of said rotor, and   said conveying being effected by each said element which leads upwardly and rearwardly relative to the intended direction of rotation of said rotor so as to exert a lifting action on the crop, said outer edges being inclined upwardly and rearwardly over at least a major proportion of the height of the crop engaging region of the rotor.   
     
     
       21. A method according to claim 20 including the steps of cutting crop by rotation of a rotary cutting means mounted coaxially with the crop engaging rotor, and conveying and conditioning the cut crop by the action of the crop engaging rotor. 
     
     
       22. A method according to claim 21 including the step or rotating the rotary cutting means and the crop engaging rotor at different angular velocities. 
     
     
       23. A method according to claim 20 including the steps of rotating two crop engaging rotors about respective vertical or near vertical axes which are spaced apart transversely relative to forward motion of the rotors, and rotating the two rotors in counter rotation in such a manner that crop is passed between the rotors upwardly and rearwardly from the front to the rear of the apparatus by a conveying action of both rotors.